The third generation (Japanese: 第三世代third generation) of Pokémon games, also sometimes known as the advance or advanced generation, is the third set of Pokémon games released, and is described by some to be a "resetting" of the series.

Details in the Hoenn- and Kanto-based games hint that the storyline of Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald is contemporaneous with that of FireRed and LeafGreen (and due to this, contemporaneous with Generation I as well), placing Generation III three years before Generation II and Generation IV, themselves contemporaneous. It is unknown where the storylines of Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness fall in the timeline, being five years apart from each other but making no reference to their time period relative to any of the main series games.

Advances in gameplay

Through its incompatibility with Generation I and Generation II, Generation III enhanced the Pokémon world the most yet, bringing about the most changes to the world of Pokémon. The advances include:

The addition of 135 new Pokémon, the most added since Generation I (at the time of its release), bringing the total to 386. Many new Pokémon have previously unseen type combinations, while two of them—Wynaut and Azurill—are related by evolution to older Pokémon.

Pokémon may now have one or two of 77 different Abilities, special attributes in addition to types and moves which can change the tide of battle and affect out-of-battle gameplay.

The Pokémon Storage System has changed from a text-based interface to a full-color graphical user interface. Boxes, while remaining at 14, now have 10 extra spaces, allowing for storage of 140 additional Pokémon (for a total of 420 Pokémon).

It also now allows additional Pokémon to be captured without the need to change the active box of the PC, with the game now automatically sending newly captured Pokémon into a separate box rather than preventing the player from capturing anymore Pokémon until the active box which is full is changed for one that isn't.

The introduction of Pokémon Contests, where Pokémon show off their style in one of five Contest conditions, with Contest stats enhanced by Pokéblocks. Through this and other methods Ribbons can be won for Pokémon, which they will retain when transferred to later games.

A brand-new region, Hoenn, with its own set of eight Gym Leaders and Elite Four. The player characters are also different from the previous games.

Seven new Poké Ball variants, replacing those introduced in and exclusive to Johto.

In addition, the type of Poké Ball a Pokémon was caught in is now displayed in the summary page.

Weather can now be found on the field and activate at the start of battle, while one more, hail, has been added.

Double Battles, where both sides use two Pokémon at a time, are introduced.

Communication capabilities with the e-Reader to activate certain events.

All handheld Generation III games have a framerate of 60, allowing for smoother animations.

Link trades and battles are made possible between Japanese and international releases due to the use of a worldwide character set. Due to the fact that online trading was introduced only in Generation IV, however, most are not made aware of this.

Major alterations from Generation II

A complete overhaul of the Pokémon data structure; Pokémon now have an individual personality value which can range up to a number above four billion. Abilities and natures, also newly introduced, are determined based on this value, as is a Pokémon's gender, while the IV system has been overhauled for greater variance (0-31 rather than 0-15 as it was before). Shininess is now based on a calculation between the personality value and Original Trainer's Trainer ID number and secret ID number with the same rarity.

An overhaul of the Berry system introduced in Generation II: old Berries rejected in favor of Berries which grow individually as plants and can be picked and planted elsewhere. The Berries are now named after real life fruits instead of their "basic" names from the previous generation. The effects of the first ten new Berries are similar to the ten Generation II Berries.

Each Pokémon has its own status screen sprite, for ease of use in the party screen or PC.

The function of the built-in clock was greatly reduced. There are no cosmetic changes during different times of day and Pokémon appearances are not affected by time. Also, the day of the week is no longer tracked.

The seven Poké Balls made from Apricorns, along with Apricorns themselves, are unavailable in Generation III.

In battle, passive damage (such as from Poison, Burn and Leech Seed) is now resolved at the end of a turn, rather than immediately after a Pokémon attacks. In previous generations, such damage did not occur after a Pokémon, that would have taken passive damage, knocked out another Pokémon.

This region's geography is mostly rural on the interior of the continent, with major cities springing up near its ample coasts. Routes between the cities can be treacherous, with densely-forested area covering much of the land. Legendary Pokémon are said to have created the region long ago, with its shape reminiscent of a yin-yang symbol reflecting the balance between land and sea.

Several ancient ruins are found around the region; their purpose remains to be discovered by the player, though ancient writings found deep beneath the sea south of the region indicate that within them are ancient Pokémon who were sealed away due to their power.

Kanto

Kanto, which in Generation II lacked some features from its original appearance, returned in a state closer to its original form in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, with all features from Generation I brought back and improved.

Storage of up to 1500 Pokémon from Ruby, Sapphire, FireRed, LeafGreen and Emerald Versions.

Playing Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire on the television through emulation.

Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, also for the Nintendo GameCube, follows a storyline that takes place a few years after the story of Colosseum. It allows for snagging of rare Generation I, II, and III Pokémon as well, and includes a difficult-to-purify final Shadow Pokémon, a Shadow Lugia.

Discussion of Generation III

While the opinion of the fandom shifts from time to time, Generation III is notable for drawing the most criticism for the series yet. The sense of a reboot when players were thrust into Hoenn (which excludes 184 of the older 251 Pokémon from availability) with no way to recover their old Pokémon drew ire from some fans. The game also saw a jump in newly introduced Legendary Pokémon, with 10 more introduced, a significant increase from Generation II, which only introduced 6.

Later games improved this, however, with Emerald's return to Hoenn being a welcome addition to the series (and including the first Battle Frontier in the series as well). FireRed and LeafGreen brought back nostalgic fans who decided to pass on Hoenn's primary paired versions, as well as bringing new fans to the Kanto region, only previously available in its fullest state on the Game Boy.

Hoenn thematic motif

The third generation of Pokémon games were more directed towards nature and relationships. The three starters were collectively more symbolic to their elements than previous starters: Mudkip is based on a fish which thrives only in Water, Torchic is a chick (which, in the real world, needs warmth in order to hatch) holding its Fire internally, and Treecko is a gecko that lives only in forests with Grass. The main antagonists were either Team Magma and/or Team Aqua who want to expand the land or sea respectively. Once they awaken one of the Legendary Pokémon Kyogre or Groudon, the world is flooded by rain or dried by drought. It's up to the player to set nature back on course by defeating their version's mascot or capturing it. Hoenn's people are far more attuned to nature than previous regions: Fortree City is built alongside Pokémon in the trees, while Pacifidlog Town is built on wooden rafts in the sea atop a Corsola colony, even though Corsola cannot be found there in the games. With Secret Power, a player can make a Secret Base out of trees, caves, or clumps of grass.

There are far more Pokémon that share relationships with other Pokémon in this generation of games, especially the Legendary Pokémon. The Legendary titans are an obvious example of this; however, the game mascots all share a relationship as the weather trio. Latios and Latias are both Eon Pokémon that must be chased around the region. Pokémon such as Lunatone, Illumise, Plusle, and Wailord are related to other Pokémon, namely Solrock, Volbeat, Minun, and Relicanth, in relationships ranging from explicit to loose symbiosis, to intense rivalry in the case of Zangoose and Seviper.

Give the Elite Four its own battle music, as opposed to them sharing the same battle music as the Gym Leaders in previous generations. However, FireRed, LeafGreen, HeartGold, SoulSilver, Diamond, Pearl and Platinum still do this, with the latter three's Elite Four battle music having a lower pitch by one semitone.

Use wireless connectivity.

Feature the word "Pokémon" in the logos of the Japanese titles, alongside "Pocket Monsters."

Generation III does not introduce any evolved forms of Pokémon from previous generations (a trait shared with Generation V), with the only cross-generational relatives being baby PokémonAzurill and Wynaut.

Generation III has the largest number of total games, with fifteen. It is tied with Generation IV for the largest number of core series games, with five each.

Starting with Generation III, Ken Sugimori's art style shows noticeable differences from that of Generation I and II. This can be seen when comparing the artwork for Red, Ethan, and Generation I and II Pokémon from their original games to that of those games' remakes.